Achi news desk-
More Canadians reported in March that they felt angrier or more pessimistic toward the federal government than at any time in the past six years, according to a survey by Nanos Research.
Nanos has been measuring Canadians’ feelings of optimism, satisfaction, disinterest, anger, pessimism and uncertainty towards the federal government since November 2018.
The latest survey found that optimism has increased slightly to 10 per cent since reaching an all-time low of eight per cent in September 2023.
However, 62 per cent of Canadians said they felt either pessimistic or angry, with respondents evenly split between the two feelings.
(Nanos Research)
“What we’ve seen is that the anger quotient has reached a new record,” said Nik Nanos, CTV’s official pollster and founder of Nanos Research, in an interview with CTV News’ Trend Line on Wednesday.
Only 11 per cent of Canadians felt satisfied, while another 11 per cent said they were not interested.
The results of past surveys show that anger towards the federal government has increased or remained constant across the country since March 2023, while satisfaction has steadily decreased.
Will the budget move the needle?
Since the survey was conducted before the federal government released its 2024 budget, there is a chance that the anger and pessimism of March may subside a bit by the time Nanos takes the public’s temperature again. They could stick too.
The five most important issues for Canadians right now that would influence votes, according to another recent Nanos survey conducted for Bloomberg, include inflation and the cost of living, health care, climate change and the environment , housing affordability and taxes.
(Nanos Research)
With this year’s budget, the federal government pledged $52.9 billion in new spending while pledging to maintain the 2023-24 federal deficit at $40.1 billion. The federal deficit is projected to be $39.8 billion in 2024-25.
The budget includes plans to boost new housing stock, introduce a national disability benefit, introduce carbon refunds for small businesses and increase taxes on Canadian earners.
However, advocacy groups have complained that it does not do enough to address climate change, or support First Nations communities and Canadians with disabilities.
“Canada is braced for another catastrophic wildfire season, but this budget fails to give the climate crisis the attention it urgently deserves,” wrote Keith Brooks, program director for Environmental Protection , in a statement on the organization’s website.
Meanwhile, when it comes to a promise to close what the Assembly of First Nations says is a sprawling gap in Indigenous infrastructure, the budget is more than $420 billion short. And while advocacy groups have praised the upcoming introduction of the Canada Disability Benefit, organizations like March of Dimes Canada and Daily Bread Food Bank say the maximum benefit estimated at $200 per month per recipient will not be enough to lift Canadians with disabilities out. of poverty.
According to Nanos, if Wednesday’s budget announcement is not enough to restore the federal government’s favor, no amount of spending will do the trick.
“If the numbers of the Liberals do not move up after this, maybe the lesson for the Liberals to listen to will be (that) spending is not the political solution for them to break this trend line,” said Nanos. “It will have to be something else.”
Conservatives in ‘majority territory’
While the Liberal party waits to see what kind of impact its budget will have on voters, the Conservatives enjoy a clear lead in vote tracking.
(Nanos Research)
“Any way you slice it right now, the Conservatives are in the driver’s seat,” Nanos said. “They are in majority territory.”
According to Nanos Research poll tracking from the week ending April 12, the Conservatives are the best choice for 40 per cent of respondents, the Liberals for 23.7 per cent and the NDP for 20.6 per cent.
Whether the Liberals or Conservatives form the next government will depend, in part, on whether voters believe that more government spending is the key to helping working Canadians, or not, said Nanos.
“Both parties are fighting for working Canadians … and we have two competing visions for that. For the Liberals, it’s about putting government support in their hands and creating social programs to support Canadians,” he said.
“For the Conservatives, it’s very different. It’s about reducing the size of government (and) reducing taxes.”
Watch the full episode of Trend Line in our video player at the top of this article. You can also listen in our audio player below, or wherever you get your podcasts. The next episode comes out on Wednesday, May 1.
Methodology
Nanos conducted a random RDD dual-frame hybrid (landline and cellular) telephone and online survey of 1,069 Canadians, aged 18 or older, between March 31 and April 1, 2024, as part of an omnibus survey. Participants were randomly recruited by telephone using live agents and an online survey was administered. The sample included landlines and cells across Canada. The results were statistically verified and weighted by age and gender using the latest census information and the sample is geographically stratified to be representative of Canada. The margin of error for this survey is ±3.0 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
With files from The Canadian Press, CTV News Senior Digital Parliamentary Correspondent Rachel Aiello and CTV News Parliamentary Bureau Writer Producer Spencer Van Dyke
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